Accused cop killer Mutrie had criminal history

GREENLAND — A large, wannabe firefighter, known to possess guns and anabolic steroids, shot five police officers at his home Thursday night, wounding four and killing Police Chief Michael Maloney, police say.

Elizabeth Dinan

GREENLAND — A large, wannabe firefighter, known to possess guns and anabolic steroids, shot five police officers at his home Thursday night, wounding four and killing Police Chief Michael Maloney, police say.

It wasn't the first time uniformed officers went to Cullen Mutrie's 517 Post Road home, where he and an unidentified woman were found dead early Friday morning, about eight hours after the mass shooting. According to the Attorney General's office, police were at Mutrie's home for a drug investigation, where local police previously reported finding several types of steroids.

On July 24, 2010, Mutrie committed the crime of simple assault by grabbing his then-girlfriend by her hair and right arm. The victim obtained an emergency restraining order and as a condition of the order, Mutrie was ordered to surrender all firearms, according to court records.

A report by Officer Wayne Young quoted the victim as saying Mutrie had “a few” guns in his bedroom, one in his vehicle, one in his living room and that he usually carried another one on his person. So local police went to Mutrie's home on July 24, 2010 to collect them.

While there, officers opened the lid to a coffee table and found substances believed to be steroids, as well as a scale, according to Young's affidavit.

The steroids weren't confirmed by the state's crime lab until the following January when they were identified as including testosterone cypionate, trenbolone acetate and nandrolone decanote.

Mutrie hired Portsmouth attorney Stephen Jeffco and pleaded not guilty to the domestic-assault charge, but Judge Sawako Gardner found him guilty. The judge imposed a $500 fine, ordered Mutrie to have no contact with the woman for a year and to remain of good behavior, also for a year.

He was also court-ordered to undergo an anger management evaluation and to comply with all recommended treatment.

Mutrie, who was 6-foot three-inches tall and weighed 275 pounds, was arrested for nine steroid-related felonies on Jan. 19, 2011 and subsequently released on $10,000 personal recognizance bail. Sources say he worked out at the Genetix gym on Lafayette Road in Seabrook.

In addition to his conviction for domestic assault, Mutrie pleaded guilty on August 14, 2007, to two class A misdemeanor simple assault charges, stemming from a brawl at the Portsmouth Gas Light Co. The police complaints state that at 9:02 p.m., on Nov. 10, 2006, Mutrie punched a man in the face and the head.

He pleaded guilty to the charges but was allowed by the Portsmouth Circuit Court to recant his guilty pleas because, a judge ruled, he misunderstood his lawyer's advice and the potential career consequences of the convictions. Mutrie said at the time that he didn't realize the resulting convictions would hurt his chances of becoming a professional firefighter.

When he pleaded guilty, he told a judge, he was “under the impression” that only a felony conviction could prevent him from being hired as a firefighter.

“I took it out of convenience,” he said in the Portsmouth court.

At the time, Mutrie said he'd been a volunteer firefighter for seven years and was going to school nights and weekends “to get certified.”

In 2009, Mutrie subsequently pleaded guilty to a reduced violation-level charge of disorderly conduct which said he breached the peace “by making unreasonable noise in a public place which noises would disturb a person of average sensibilities.” Portsmouth Police Capt. Corey MacDonald, who dismissed the two original charges, said at the time that he reduced the misdemeanors to a violation because of the unavailability of witnesses.

Mutrie was court-ordered to perform 30 hours of community service and to stay away from the Gas Light for two years.

He was again court-ordered to complete an anger management program and to comply with all recommended follow-up treatment.

On Feb. 24, 2011, a judge found probable cause for six of the nine charges alleging Mutrie was in possession of illegal steroids. He was indicted in Rockingham County Superior Court and the cases were pending at the time of Mutrie's death Friday morning.

Police sources say he killed himself and a woman while his home was surrounded by dozens of police officers from around the state.

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